A FAHP and MPTCP Based Seamless Handover Method in Heterogeneous SDN Wireless Networks

Abstract

To solve the problem of vertical handover in heterogeneous wireless networks, this paper proposes a seamless handover method for heterogeneous wireless networks based on software defined network (SDN) architecture. The proposed method requires SDN control plane to periodically collect attributes of wireless networks so as to evaluate network performance. Considering varied types of services have different requirements and users have different preferences, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and multi-path transmission control protocol (MPTCP) are applied to select the most appropriate target network and execute seamless handover, respectively. Compared to existing methods, the proposed method jointly considers service requirements, user preferences, and mobility management for network selection and guarantees service continuity during vertical handover. Simulation results show that the proposed method makes a comprehensive decision on network selection. In terms of handover times, the proposed method achieves up to 17.4% and 4.5% reduction compared to received signal strength based algorithm and fuzzy multiple criteria group decision making based algorithm, respectively. The proposed method also maintains at least one subflow connected during the handover process and achieves seamless handover.